Scandal of trainee nurses with no jobs in the offing

Martin Shipton

Sixty-five trainee nurses due to finish their training at Swansea University in March 2026 have no jobs to go to when they graduate, it has been revealed.

The Royal College of Nursing has raised urgent concerns about the lack of vacancies within Swansea Bay University Health Board (SBUHB), following direct correspondence from final-year nursing students.

The revelation comes despite students completing more than two-thirds of their courses in Swansea Bay hospitals.

Helen Whyley, Executive Director of RCN Wales, said: “These students have studied locally, contributed to patient care, and were assured that their skills would be in demand. The lack of posts feels like a slap in the face and risks damaging morale at a critical point in their careers as well as destabilising future recruitment into nursing.”

“We are working closely with Swansea University and seeking urgent clarification from Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW), SBUHB, and Welsh Government for our affected student members and to find workable solutions. It is becoming increasingly clear that this situation is being driven by financial constraints, including the freezing of vacant posts within the health board. This is deeply concerning and requires immediate, coordinated action between the health board and the government to find sustainable resolution.”

“RCN Wales is committed to supporting students by raising concerns and seeking interim solutions, this alone is not enough. The glaring contradiction between the urgent calls to address nursing shortages and the lack of meaningful opportunities for newly qualified nurses demands immediate action. If we are serious about safeguarding the future of our healthcare system, this disconnect must be resolved — not eventually, but now!”

Open letter

The student nurses themselves have written an open letter to the senior management of the health board expressing their desperation at the situation.

In it, they say: “We are the nursing students of the March 2023 Cohort at Swansea University, and we are writing to you with a matter of great urgency requiring immediate attention.

“For the past three years, we have trained, studied, and worked within your hospitals and community settings. We are writing this letter not out of anger, but out of deep disappointment and desperation.

“After everything we have given to this Health Board, we now face the very real possibility of unemployment.

“Each of us has completed over 2,000 hours of clinical practice, many of which have been undertaken within Swansea Bay. For three years, we have worked within your trust, we’ve supported nurses, doctors, healthcare support workers, and allied health professionals, and developed the skills and confidence required to provide safe, high-quality care to your patients.

“We have done so with pride, professionalism, and compassion. We have worked days, nights, weekends, and holidays. We have missed birthdays, family events, and moments we can’t get back. We have cleaned bodily fluids, dressed wounds, administered medications, rehabilitated patients, assisted in surgery, performed CPR, and held the hands of patients as they took their final breaths. We have done all this while upholding the values expected of nurses, because we care. We have driven home in tears, exhausted, but proud of the work we do.

“And we have done all of this without salaries, driven by our belief in the NHS, our desire to serve our communities, and our understanding that, as nurses, we were entering a profession in high demand.

“Now, as we prepare to qualify, Swansea Bay University Health Board has announced zero available posts for adult branch nurses within our cohort.

“Streamlining should have opened for our cohort over a month ago. We were told the process was delayed to ‘maximise vacancies’, but when roles were finally released, not a single vacancy has been made available to adult branch trained nursing students within Swansea Bay University Health Board.

“This means that the very students who have spent years supporting your workforce and services are now being left behind. We face unemployment, uncertainty, and fear about our future.

“We have spent three years unable to take regular paid work due to the demands of our degree and clinical placements. Many of us have accumulated significant debt, relied upon our savings to survive, or taken extra bank shifts overnight on top of our studies and clinical commitments just to make ends meet.

“Now, with our student funding shortly due to end, we are asking ourselves, how do we pay our rent, our mortgages, our bills? How do we feed our families when the jobs we trained for don’t exist?

“Neighbouring health boards have offered limited vacancies, but we are competing not only with our own peers but also with students from previous cohorts, and those who qualified in universities across Wales who still haven’t secured employment.

“This means, the 60 or so Adult Nursing students shortly due to qualify in Swansea alone will be competing against potentially hundreds of already qualified nurses across Wales who have yet to secure employment. And this is happening in the midst of a national shortage of nursing staff.

‘Pathway’

The letter continues: “We were told that training as nurses in Wales would guarantee us a pathway to meaningful employment, a fair exchange for our commitment to serve in Wales for at least two years after graduation. Yet now, if we cannot secure employment within three months of completing our studies, many of us face the devastating reality of having to repay tens of thousands of pounds in funding to the very system that cannot offer us jobs.

“We are qualified, competent, and ready to work. The NHS is repeatedly described as being in desperate need of nurses, yet those of us who stand ready to serve are being turned away.

“We have worked hard to uphold your standards, to support your staff, and to care for your patients. We have filled shifts that would otherwise require paid colleagues. We have done the work. And now, at the point where our training should transition into employment, we are being told there is no place for us.

“The lack of transparency and communication has left students feeling anxious, depressed, and defeated. Many of us regret our decision to train as nurses, not because of the patients, not because of the work, but because of the position we have been left in after years of sacrifice and dedication.

“When we should be filled with a sense of pride and excitement to begin our careers, we are instead filled with fear and uncertainty.

“We do not blame Swansea University. They have been honest, transparent, and supportive throughout this process. But we need more. We need action. We need jobs. We ask you, Swansea Bay University Health Board, to reflect on this situation and to answer us: Why are we deemed worthy to train within your services, but denied opportunities for meaningful employment?

“Why is Swansea Bay University Health Board the only health board in Wales offering zero vacancies to Adult branch trained students?

“Why was there no transparency or early warning to allow us to seek roles elsewhere?

“Why could you provide roles for previous cohorts, who were significantly larger, but not for ours?

“What will you do now to help us? We entered this profession to make a difference. We are ready to care for the people of Swansea Bay, the same people we have already served throughout our training.

“We are not asking for sympathy. We are asking for accountability, dignity, and a fair opportunity to work in the profession we have given everything to join.

“Despite current circumstances we are proud to be future nurses, but we are heartbroken by what this experience has become.

“Please, let us do what we are trained to do. Let us help.”

‘Options’

Swansea Bay University Health Board said:” We completely understand the concerns and worries of these student nurses and are urgently exploring all possible options.

There is no nursing recruitment freeze in Swansea Bay. However, the challenge for us as a Health Board is that we have successfully recruited and retained staff over the last couple of years and we find ourselves now with limited or no vacancies.

While we have been able to make available 39 vacancies in our mental health and learning disability services, we have not yet been able to do so in the field of Adult Nursing.

We’re in discussion with colleagues from Healthcare Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW), as well as other health boards, to explore what else can be done to find a solution to this problem.

We really appreciate the hard work and care the student nurses have provided on our wards during their time as students and can give assurances that we will do all we can to find ways forward for them.